Rainy Night at Maekawa — 相州前川の雨

Rainy Night at Maekawa (相州前川の雨) is among Hasui's studies of nocturnal rain in provincial settings, depicting the Maekawa area of Sagami Province in Kanagawa. The composition likely frames a section of riverbank or road under a deeply shaded night sky, with diagonal rain lines traversing the composition from upper left to lower right in the convention established in earlier Japanese prints. The shin-hanga technique allowed for greater tonal nuance than the earlier ukiyo-e tradition: bokashi gradations in the sky produce smooth transitions from near-black to deep indigo, and carefully registered color blocks give wet surfaces their reflective quality. This design exists in multiple impressions, and this example represents the foundational composition from which subsequent printings derived. Published by Watanabe Shozaburo, it belongs to the broader category of meisho-e landscape subjects that Hasui produced throughout his career.